There are various types of dangerous situations and events that occur where a gun is utilized. Often times victims and bystanders are unsure as to what is occurring and do not have the needed information to appreciate their proximity to a dangerous situation or how they might reach shelter or a safer place. Conventional gunshot detection systems make use of a network of stationary microphones, sometimes sophisticated directional microphones, spread across the area being monitored. The location of a gunshot may be determined by comparing when the shot was heard by various stationary microphones, or by triangulation using directional information from a few more sophisticated directional microphones. A large number of stationary microphones must be deployed to obtain accurate location information, an infrastructure that can be very expensive to deploy and maintain. Unless expensive redundancy is built in, the failure of only a handful of devices can render the system “blind” in an area. The use of directional microphones can reduce the number of devices needed, but can increase the cost of installation and maintenance. Furthermore, conventional systems must be deployed to account for population centers averaged over a day. For example, one part of a city may have more activity (and more crime) during the daytime, and another part of the city may become more active at night. Because conventional systems make use of stationary microphones, both of those areas would need to be covered. Additionally, conventional systems typically only provide information to law enforcement, and do not directly assist the public in avoiding dangerous situations or active shooters.